Packers-Titans Week 16 Dope Sheet

Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24.

Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com. This is an abbreviated version of the Dope Sheet. To read the full version, download the PDF by clicking here.

The Packers welcome the Tennessee Titans to town for the first time since 2004 in Green Bay’s final home contest of the regular season.

This will be the 11th meeting between the franchises in the regular season, with the Titans holding a 6-4 edge. It will be the sixth time the clubs have squared off at Lambeau Field.

The Packers clinched their second straight NFC North title with a 21-13 win over Chicago at Soldier Field on Sunday. Green Bay is currently the No. 3 seed in the NFC behind Atlanta (12-2) and San Francisco (10-3-1).

The Packers have won at least 10 games each of the last four seasons, which ties the franchise record (1929-32, 1995-98, 2001-04). Green Bay and New England are the only teams in the league with 10-plus wins each of the last four seasons (2009-12).

Green Bay has won eight of its last nine games entering Sunday’s contest, which is the second-best record in the league since Week 6 behind only Denver (9-0).

The Packers have won their final home game of the season each year under Head Coach Mike McCarthy (2006-11). Green Bay also won its home finale in 2005, giving them a seven-game winning streak in its final home game of the season, the second-longest current streak in the NFL behind only Baltimore (nine straight home finales).

Over the past 20 years (1992-2011), the Packers have won their final home game of the season every year but one (2004).

Sunday will be Green Bay’s fourth and final game against an AFC South foe this season. The Packers posted wins earlier this season at Houston (Week 6) and vs. Jacksonville (Week 8), with a loss at Indianapolis in Week 5.

The Packers enter Sunday’s contest having won five of their last seven regular-season games against teams from the AFC.

Green Bay has won 19 of its last 20 regular-season games (.950) at Lambeau Field and 25 of its last 27 (.926) at home.

The Packers have won 27 of their last 32 regular-season games overall (.844), the best record in the league over that span.

BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS

The Packers have won two straight NFC North titles for the first time since 2002-04, when the team captured three consecutive divisional crowns.

This season’s NFC North title marks the Packers’ 20th division crown in franchise history.

With the win on Sunday at Chicago, Green Bay clinched its 28th postseason berth in team history and its 15th appearance in the last 20 seasons.

The Packers have made the playoffs in five of the last six seasons, the only NFC team to accomplish that feat over that span (2007-12).

Green Bay currently ranks No. 3 in NFL history with its 28 playoff appearances, trailing only the N.Y. Giants (31) and Dallas Cowboys (30).

The Packers’ 15 postseason appearances in the free-agency era (since 1993) are the most of any team in the NFL.

WITH THE CALL

The Packers make their second of two appearances this season on CBS. The network will air the contest to a regional audience.

Play-by-play man Greg Gumbel and color analyst Dan Dierdorf will have the call from the broadcast booth.

Milwaukee’s WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 53-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) calling the action. The duo enters its 14th season of broadcasts together across the Packers Radio Network, which covers 44 markets in six states.

The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 91) as part of the network’s NFL Sunday Drive.

One of only two coaches, along with New Orleans’ Sean Payton, to have his offense ranked in the top 10 in total yardage each season from 2006-11.

Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head-coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.

Became the first Packers coach since Lombardi to lead the team to a championship game in his second season (2007).

MIKE MUNCHAK…Is in second year as the 16th head coach in Houston/Tennessee history.

Named head coach on Feb. 7, 2011, after spending the previous 29 seasons with the club as a player and a coach.

In leading the Titans to a 9-7 record in 2011, he became the sixth Titans/Oilers head coach to reach nine wins in his first season.

After his playing career, spent three seasons as an offensive assistant/quality control coach (1994-96). From 1997-2010, he coached the team’s offensive line.

Played guard for the Houston Oilers for 12 seasons (1982-93). Was named to the Pro Bowl nine times and in 2001, became the fifth franchise player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

THE PACKERS-TITANS SERIES

Green Bay played its first ever dome game, a 23-10 win on Nov. 20, 1972, when the franchises first met 40 years ago at the Houston Astrodome. The clubs have met only nine other times in the regular season since then.

The Packers are 1-3 vs. the Titans since the franchise moved from Houston to Tennessee in 1997.

The teams’ first meeting after the move, at Lambeau Field on Dec. 20, 1998, was a memorable contest. A 30-22 Packers win in snowy, 29-degree conditions, the game marked Reggie White’s final Lambeau Field performance in a Green Bay uniform. WR Antonio Freeman posted seven catches for 186 yards and three TDs.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONSPackers GM Ted Thompson played linebacker for 10 seasons (1975-84) for the Houston Oilers…Titans senior executive vice president/COO Mike Reinfeldt worked for the Packers for eight seasons as chief financial officer (1991-93) and vice president of administration (1994-98); Reinfeldt is a native of Baraboo, Wis., and was a four-year starter at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee…Thompson and Reinfeldt are close friends, as the two were teammates in Houston (1976-83) and co-workers in Green Bay (1992-98)…Thompson was also a teammate of Titans head coach Mike Munchak, asst. secondary coach Steve Brown and offensive line coach Bruce Matthews with the Oilers…Matthews is the uncle of Packers LB Clay Matthews…Titans C Kevin Matthews is Clay’s cousin and Bruce’s son…Packers DT Jordan Miller was born in Nashville, Tenn. ...Packers senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith was selected by the Houston Oilers with the No. 3 overall pick in 1987 and played three seasons for the club…Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck was drafted by the Packers in the sixth round in 1998 and played in 32 games for the team from 1999-2000…Packers head coach Mike McCarthy served as Hasselbeck’s position coach in Green Bay in 1999…Titans DE Jarius Wynn was drafted in the sixth round by the Packers in 2009 and played three seasons (2009-11) in Green Bay…Titans FB Quinn Johnson was drafted by the Packers in the fifth round in 2009 and played two seasons (2009-10) in Green Bay…Titans defensive assistant/pass rush specialist Keith Millard played in two games for the Packers in 1992…Titans special teams assistant Chet Parlavecchio appeared in three games for the Packers in 1983…Packers equipment manager Red Batty spent 13 seasons (1981-93) in the same position with the Houston Oilers…Packers OLBs coach Kevin Greene and Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray were teammates with the Los Angeles Rams…Gray coached on Buffalo’s staff with Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements and when Packers running backs coach Alex Van Pelt played QB for the Bills…Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was Titans secondary coach Brett Maxie’s position coach in New Orleans; Maxie also played for the Panthers and coached there when Capers was the head coach in Carolina…Capers and Titans RBs coach Jim Skipper coached together at San Jose State and with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars (USFL) and the New Orleans Saints…Titans WRs coach Dave Ragone played for the Texans when Capers was the head coach…Packers LB Clay Matthews played at Southern California with Titans DT Jurrell Casey, DT DaJohn Harris, G Deuce Lutui and WR Damian Williams…Other former college teammates include Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Titans TE Craig Stevens (California), Packers TE Jermichael Finley and Titans S Michael Griffin (Texas), Packers DE C.J. Wilson and Titans RB Chris Johnson (East Carolina), Packers DE Mike Daniels and LB Dezman Moses and Titans DT Karl Klug (Iowa), Packers CB Sam Shields and Titans LB Colin McCarthy (Miami), Packers DE Mike Neal and Titans T Mike Otto (Purdue), and Packers LS Brett Goode and TE D.J. Williams and Titans G Mitch Petrus (Arkansas).

LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON

Nov. 2, 2008, at LP Field; Titans won, 19-16 (OT).

The Packers nearly ended the Titans’ eight-game unbeaten streak to start the season, but Rob Bironas’ 41-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime kept Tennessee undefeated.

Bironas had a chance to win the game in regulation, but his 47-yard try on the final snap of the fourth quarter hit the right upright.

WR Donald Driver’s 5-yard TD catch gave the Packers a 10-6 lead in the second quarter, and two Mason Crosby field goals in the second half tied the score at 16.

Driver finished with seven catches for 136 yards, while RB Ryan Grant added 86 yards rushing on 20 attempts. QB Aaron Rodgers was 22-of-41 for 314 yards with one TD and one interception.

STAT OF THE WEEK

In Sunday’s division-clinching win at Chicago, Green Bay’s defense limited the Bears to just 107 net passing yards on the afternoon.

That brought Chicago’s two-game total to 181 net passing yards versus Green Bay this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the Packers’ best two-game total posted against the Bears in a single season since Green Bay allowed just 158 net passing yards against Chicago in 1977.

Green Bay allowed the Bears to register only 358 net yards of offense (177 rushing, 181 passing) in the two games this season, the fewest allowed by the Packers to Chicago in a season since they gave up just 254 yards in 1966 (117 rushing, 137 passing).

Green Bay allowed the Bears to complete just 23 passes in two games this season, the lowest season total by Chicago against the Packers since it completed just 17 passes in two games in 2005.

In the two games against Chicago this season, Green Bay’s defense registered 11 sacks and five interceptions as the Bears posted a combined 39.0 passer rating.

This is an abbreviated version of the Dope Sheet. To read the full version, download the PDF by clicking here.